Butterfly
by darkangel-allways
Summary: His soul lingers on the outskirts of the afterlife. One-shot


The multichapter fic is stuck in the museless hell, but until I manage to get enough feeling to write another chapter for it, please enjoy this. (Romanian version posted on the mangashop forum)

I do not own Trinity Blood.

He liked this place. This place that was full of colors that swirled around him, this place where he couldn't see any eyes that would look accusingly at him for something he couldn't remember exactly, this place that was somewhere in-between 'is' and 'was'.

He couldn't remember his name and, after a while, he started believing that he was nothing more than a color, making it okay to not know how he was called. After all, colors do not have consciousness and therefore, they do not know what they are called by others, right?

"_This place must be a pen_", he heard a strange voice whisper and he nodded, agreeing with it. Yes, this place must be a pen or maybe a painting. A painting more than a pen, since that would explain why the rest of his brothers and sisters were present.

A black butterfly suddenly appeared, slowly flapping its wings as it came closer to him. The colors stopped swirling at the same time the butterfly's wings stopped flapping and he was the only thing that was still moving in that place. It was then he realized he had hands and dismissed the previous thought of being a color, labeling it as ridiculous and stupid.

He carefully cupped his hands around the butterfly and just smiled at the little creature, his lips coming closer to one of its wings, but before he could place a kiss on them, two spots appeared on them, two green eyes. He suddenly felt his soul fill with different emotions and feelings and he recoiled back as if the butterfly burned his skin.

He heard a loud thunder and the colors suddenly crystallized and then they cracked, big pieces falling around him, smashing into nothingness until only those two jade orbs and blackness remained.

"Would you like to buy a flower?" the darkness asked, as the orbs blinked and when they reopened, he found himself sitting on a horse next to the sea.

It took him a little while to register that in front of him sat a petite girl with short black hair and green eyes, dressed in a long white shirt with green fringes at the bottom and a white pair of pants that had a couple of green flowers sewn into them. She smiled again, this time pushing in front of her a bouquet of white flowers along with a dark purple hat.

"Thank you." He heard himself say and saw his dark skinned hands grabbing the hat.

He put his hat on his head, but it must have been on wrong, because the flower girl started giggling, her mouth hidden behind her slim fingers. He frowned and huffed, tossing his head back, his hat taking off once more.

He jumped off the horse and ran after it, stopping when he saw that it landed in the sea, the waves pushing it down under. He bit his lip as he continued to stare at the beautiful sea, his horse coming next to him and nudging him with his snout. A sigh left his lips, silently cursing his clumsiness.

"The sea is beautiful, don't you agree young lord?" He heard the girl say from his right side, startling him.

He turned to look at her, before looking back at the see and frowning at it. This beautiful sea just swallowed his heat, making his outfit to be an incomplete one. And this had to happen on such an important day too. He was supposed to enter the Divan today, to be officially introduced as the new Duke of Tigris. How could he show himself there now, dressed in such a disgracing way?

"Why do you look so sad, my young Lord Süleyman?" The girl spoke again, her hand on his back.

"I'll dishonor myself and my family in front of our Empress today. What will she think of this sad child when she looks down and sees me dressed as this? She will probably think that I am a disgraceful child, one that can't even follow the simple dress code…" He felt tears well up in his eyes and he bit the corner of his lip again, trying to hold them back.

"I am sure that she won't think such a thing, my young Lord Süleyman."

He turned around to glare at her, intent on asking her how she would know such a thing, she a mere Terran girl who sold flowers and who had no master, if her lack of uniform was any proper indication. But she smiled at his glare, taking his hand and putting in it the bouquet of flowers.

"You are thinking how would _I_ know all of this, right? I am sure that she is a kind ruler, a mother that berates her children only when necessary. And, just because she is the Empress, that doesn't mean that she didn't lose any hats to this moody and frisky wind. Give her this bouquet and she'll understand why you have no hat. I know for sure that she loves nature almost as much as she loves her children…" She winked at him and kissed his cheek, causing him to blush.

"Who- Who are you?" he finally found his words as he looked at her retreating back. Jade butterflies started to fly around her as she turned and offered him her smile once again.

"Me? I am just a pretty girl, just passing by…"

And after she blew one more kiss in his direction, those jade butterflies took her away along with the scenery, leaving him in darkness once more where he continued to remember that day. He remembered how nervous he was and how much he fought not to show it in front of his Mother. He remembered how she beckoned him to come near her after the Duchess of Moldova commented on his attire. He also remembered seeing her beautiful smile as he extended his arms and offered her the flowers.

"_We thank thee, our child. We love these kind of flowers... We are saddened that they do not grow within our own private gardens. We would like to offer you a kiss on thy as a thank you."_

Oh, how loud the rest of the nobles roared upon hearing this, but the Empress simply grabbed his head in her loving grip and she planted a loving kiss on his forehead through the veil.

Tears rolled down his cheek, feeling ashamed of what he had done. How foolish he was for doubting her words…How foolish he was for forgetting those words…

Blue flames started to erupt around him, slowly consuming his body. He screamed in pain and tried to put the blue fire out, tried to hide from those brown orbs that had appeared out of nowhere and were now staring at him, mocking him.

The jade butterfly appeared again and it landed on his nose, taking the pain away. He smiled at it, at this wings and he cupped it once more and kissed it, the blue flames being replaced by blue water.

"Why did you forgive me?" He managed to mutter, his body slowly disappearing.

"Because I love you, my young lord Süleyman…" the wind whispered to the empty sea.

Outside, in the living world, a purple hat had just washed up on the dark and cold beach…


End file.
